1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a mobile CO2 filling system for filling onsite storage and dispensing systems primarily for on-site refillable restaurant CO2 beverage dispensing systems, on-site refillable CO2 dispensing systems for green house plant enrichment, on-site refillable CO2 dispensing systems for swimming pool conditioning and other similar applications, and similar onsite CO2 refillable dispensing systems.
2. Background Information
As noted above this invention generally relates to a mobile CO2 filling systems for filling onsite storage and dispensing systems. One large application of onsite CO2 storage and dispensing systems is on-site refillable restaurant CO2 beverage dispensing systems. Reviewing a brief history of CO2 beverage dispensing systems may be helpful in understanding the present invention.
The beverage industry uses carbon dioxide to carbonate and to move beverages from a storage tank to a dispensing area. For beverages such as beer, the beer can be contained in large kegs in a remote location, e.g., the basement or storage room, and the taps at the bar can dispense the beer. This method eliminates the storage of beer kegs in the bar area and allows the beer keg delivery and removal to occur in an area other than that in which patrons may be sitting. This type of system has existed for many years as evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 1,062,343 which issued in 1913.
In order to get the beverages from the storage area to the serving area, prior art has used carbon dioxide among other gases. The carbon dioxide is generally delivered as a liquid in large heavy DOT cylinders and hooked to the dispensing system. When the tanks are hooked to the system, a certain volume, generally about one third of the tank, in a one tank system or one third of the tank volume in a multi-tank system is not filled with liquid. This allows the carbon dioxide to boil to a gaseous state. It is this gaseous state that is then used to carbonate and to move the desired beverage from the storage room or basement to the delivery area and provide much of the carbonation to the beverages.
One problem with this general system is that the carbon dioxide tanks must be changed or when the current tanks run out, they must be replaced with new tanks. This can be inconvenient and time consuming. If only one person is working, then they are required to leave the patron area and manually change the tank to allow the refreshments to continue to flow. In addition, delivery of additional filled tanks cannot always occur when they are needed if a user runs out in the late evening or during non-business hours. This problem can be somewhat lessened by using multiple liquid tanks, but this uses more space and can be more expensive to monitor and refill.
To refill or replace a tank, the system must generally be completely shut down, so no beverages can be served, and service or delivery personnel can move the full liquid carbon dioxide tanks into the business and remove the empty tanks. Generally several valves must be shut off while the tanks are changed. The business must wait until the changeover is complete before beverages can be served again.
The above problems led to the development of onsite CO2 storage and dispensing systems where the physical changing of the tanks has been eliminated. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,601,618, 5,113,905, 4,936,343 and 4,683,921 which are incorporated herein by reference. This is done by delivering liquid carbon dioxide to the in-situ tanks or system pre-existing in the businesses. Generally a pump truck delivers the liquid carbon dioxide to an inlet line plumbed to the outside of the building. However in early onsite CO2 storage and dispensing systems, the delivery personnel must then enter the establishment to close and adjust various valves. These early onsite systems were then shut down and the dispensing of beverages must cease until the filling process is complete. Delivery personnel were required to return to the truck and start the pump and then carefully monitor the system to attempt to determine when the system is full. This was difficult to determine with any uniformity in early onsite system. Some weeks a business may do very well with beverages and some weeks may not do so well. While an operator may get a general sense, it was difficult to determine without the trial and error method, when these early onsite systems were full. Some prior art onsite systems used relief valves to indicate when the system was full, namely the operator watched for the excess CO2 to actually come through a vent. This method of determining when the system is full is wasteful and can result in increased pressure hazards from over filling. Over filling can also result in the system not operating properly.
The deficiencies with these prior art onsite CO2 storage and dispensing systems largely minimized their wide adoption in the beverage industry. U.S. Pat. No. 7,258,127 addressed some of the problems with the prior art and provides a diverter valve, system and method for the delivery of gases or liquids where the delivery persons can fill the system without having to enter the building and the system can continue to deliver gas to the user. There is no interruption of service while the system is being filled. U.S. Pat. No. 7,258,127 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Further improvements in this type of onsite CO2 storage and delivery system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,844,555 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The advantages of the onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems of the '127 and '555 patents are resulting in a quickly growing number of establishments utilizing this type of onsite CO2 storage and dispensing system, and such users are not limited to restaurants but include breweries, pools, convenience stores and greenhouses. These systems, currently marketed under the brand GREEN CO2 SYSTEMS have been described as a “Game Changing Stationary, Non-Venting, Low Cost, Low Maintenance and totally Green CO2 Dispensing System.” It has been tested by some 2,000 installations over the last 10 years. Additionally, after working on the system that was the subject of the '127 patent, John Smythe proposed a similar design that is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,309, which is incorporated herein by reference, however there have been no apparent attempts to commercialize the specific system of the '309 patent such that the practical advantages of this specific design have not been established in the marketplace, but the '309 patent itself is further evidence of the growing acceptance of the advantages of onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems.
The inventors of the present invention, who have been instrumental in expanding the use and application of different onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems, have recognized a need for a flexible controllable mobile delivery platform for the distinct onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems. Increasing the ease of filling onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems will yield greater acceptance of their use and allow more commercial establishments to reduce their carbon footprint and save money through adoption of onsite CO2 storage and delivery systems. It is one object of the present invention to provide a cost effective, flexible, efficient mobile CO2 filling system for filling onsite storage and dispensing systems primarily for on-site refillable restaurant CO2 beverage dispensing systems, on-site refillable CO2 dispensing systems for green house plant enrichment, on-site refillable CO2 dispensing systems for swimming pool conditioning and other similar applications, and similar onsite CO2 refillable dispensing systems.